THE SOUL

 

The soul is never affected by karma. The soul is unchangeable. (Bg 2.24-25). But the soul identifies itself through the subtle body (specifically the false ego) with matter and thus the subtle and gross body. By that process the soul misidentifies the body to be his self.

 

The impressions or memories of all the things the soul has experienced through all the senses while in the material world are recorded in the subtle body. But the gross body is destroyed when the time it has been allotted by the karma it has earned runs out (this is calculated in terms of the numbers of breaths the body is allotted). The memories of the previous birth is then moved to the subconscious mind at the time of the soul’s accepting its next body.

 

The prarabdha karma (the mature karma) comes from the permutations and interactions of the modes of nature one has acquired from the previous birth; in other words from the mentality developed from the previous birth. It is a very intricate situation, obviously, because there are also subtle remnants of karma in the subtle body that is to be manifest as the soul makes choices in the material world. In other words, while in the material world the soul can act in such way to accrue further mature karma in the future. It’s like a person who contacts a certain bacteria or disease. The disease is there but it takes some time before the disease manifests its symptoms in the gross body. The conclusion is that it is impossible for the individual soul to determine all the details of the results of all these actions and reactions.

 

When the soul, by good fortune, comes in contact with Krishna through Krishna’s representative, the soul gets knowledge by which to see the difference between sense gratification and devotional service and chooses the latter. That knowledge comes from outside the system of actions and reactions of the material modes; in other words, from the spiritual world. Then the soul’s path to liberation from the modes of nature (this material world) is open, and the soul tastes freedom and never turns back until he reaches the spiritual world. Krishna wants that! Therefore, it’s possible. (See Bg 3.37-38)

 

Hare Krishna

(September 2016)